B-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys won the night they stopped Haulcy from sliding. Grade: B-.
by bbg ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 1 steals
· 5 reaches
You could see the war room lean forward. A.J. Haulcy at the 92nd overall pick is the sort of fall that does not happen, except it just did. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B-.
If York pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. With wide receiver, quarterback and other spots unsolved, spending premium capital on edge rusher is the choice that costs them.
The wide receiver spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
A reasonable price with a little left over, Mansoor Delane in pick 12. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
In the 28th pick they get a bendy edge with upside, though they paid up to get him. More want than need.
Taurean York in the 69th overall pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A.J. Haulcy at slot 92 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A minor need, but a need all the same.
A want over a need in the Round 4 slot: Mason Reiger adds an edge rusher while wide receiver, quarterback and other spots keeps waiting.
Kaleb Elarms-Orr in pick No. 152 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They went early on Red Murdock in Round 5, Pick 37, and the value did not follow. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
No edge and no loss on DJ Campbell in No. 180; it is a wash and a sensible one. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Lander Barton. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.